Scotland's Chief Constable issues a joint statement with the chairman of the
Scottish Police Authority defending the force in the wake of the M9 scandal.

Scotland’s police chief has issued an extraordinary appeal to give the new national force more time following a series of scandals that he admitted made it appear “more tempting to turn back than go on.”

Sir Stephen House issued a joint statement with Vic Emery, chairman of the Scottish Police Authority (SPA) in which they said they are only 30 months into a “long journey of reform” following the merger of the previous regional forces.

They warned that breaking up Police Scotland would “risk us failing to realise many of the benefits of a single service that are as yet only partly realised”, before concluding: “It is a temptation we should resist.”

It emerged this week that Lamara Bell, 25, was conscious and trying to escape when police finally arrived, around 72 hours after the accident was reported. The mother-of-two died in hospital but nine days later police called her mobile phone asking about the whereabouts of a missing relative.

Her family led calls for Sir Stephen to resign or be sacked but Kenny MacAskill, the former SNP justice minister who ordered the merger of the previous forces, has insisted Police Scotland is providing an “exemplary service” and argued that “errors happen”.

John Yuill and Lamara Bell have been missing since Sunday morning Photo: Police ScotlandJohn Yuill and Lamara Bell were left in a car for three days after crashing. Both died.

Alison McInnes, Scottish Liberal Democrat justice spokesman, last night described the statement as “astonishing” and said Mr Emery’s primary responsibility was supposed to be holding Sir Stephen to account.

“It is staggering that they have both deemed it appropriate to issue a joint statement where they are hand in hand in arguing all is well,” she said.

“It is difficult to see how either the SPA, Police Scotland or the Scottish Government are fulfilling the checks and balances expected of them by parliament when they are acting as a united mouthpiece for the SNP government.”

Titled “Basis for single service still strong”, the statement argued that the single force is the best way of policing a “small country” but delivering a service that is responsive to local needs “is the very heart of what Police Scotland was set up to do.”

Sir Stephen and Mr Emery argued that the merger of the regional forces has spelt the end of “postcode lotteries” in terms of how areas like domestic abuse and child protection are dealt with in different areas of Scotland.

They also said the single force was also better suited to tackling cyber crime and large events, like the Commonwealth Games, and that policing in Scotland “has never been the subject of more scrutiny and that also includes scrutiny of the SPA”.

Local policing “has the potential” to be more accountable to Scotland’s 32 councils than ever before, they claimed, and the merger has saved more than half the cost of the previous regional forces’ executive structures.

However, they said they were only 30 months into their “long term journey of reform and change” and they are “learning and evolving our approach all the time.” They added: “All journeys have points where it looks more tempting to turn back than go on.”

A Scottish Government spokesman claimed the creation of Police Scotland had “cross-party support across the Scottish Parliament” and that reported crime is at a 40-year low.